Visa, Mastercard Back New Dollar Stablecoin to Rival USDT and USDC
A coalition of financial and crypto firms is launching a US dollar stablecoin that retains reserve earnings, directly challenging Tether and Circle.
A powerful alliance of financial giants and cryptocurrency companies, including Visa and Mastercard, is joining forces to launch a new US dollar-backed stablecoin, positioning the venture as a direct competitor to the two dominant players in the stablecoin market — Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC.
One of the project's defining features is its plan to retain earnings generated from the reserves backing the stablecoin. This structure represents a meaningful departure from models used by existing issuers and could give the consortium a financial edge as it looks to capture market share in an increasingly competitive digital-dollar landscape.
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The involvement of Visa and Mastercard signals a notable deepening of traditional finance's commitment to blockchain-based payment infrastructure. Both companies have experimented with stablecoin settlement in recent years, but participation in a jointly issued token marks a more aggressive strategic pivot toward on-chain dollar liquidity.
Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC currently sit atop the stablecoin market by capitalization, making them the benchmark any new entrant must measure itself against. A consortium backed by mainstream payment networks and a broad coalition of crypto firms could plausibly accelerate institutional adoption in ways that purely crypto-native issuers have struggled to achieve.
The project's full structure, governance details, and launch timeline have yet to be fully disclosed, but its backers' combined reach across both traditional payments and digital assets suggests it could reshape competitive dynamics across the stablecoin sector. Continue reading at Cointelegraph.
